Telstra Reportedly Testing 450Mbps 4G Network

According to the Australian Financial Review, the nation's largest telco is quietly toiling away on a 4G network that would allow, under the right circumstances, download speeds of a blistering 450Mbps.

The telco will reportedly achieve the speeds by deploying its LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network complete with carrier aggregation. We already know that Telstra is testing LTE-A on its network, but we're as yet unsure when we might get access to this as normal consumers. LTE-A is a system that lets the telco combine both 1800MHz and 900MHz spectrum to create one network stream. When someone moves deeper into a rural area, they shift from being on the larger spectrum over to the 900MHz spectrum to ensure consistent coverage.

The LTE-A tests form part of other tests that Telstra is conducting around its network, including LTE-B for broadcast standard improvements and reducing congestion.

The carrier aggregation tests were spotted in an internal memo leaked to the AFR, however the telco wouldn't comment on the break. Check out the AFR for more info. [AFR]

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